POTS OF PURPLE

After finishing our front garden make-over, I thought I would tackle cleaning up the bush house.
I had been very remiss at tending to my cattleya orchids, and they were lacking a good dose of fertilizer and anti-fungal spray as well as tender care, although I did water them when required.

A little neglected

To my  surprise I had 5 orchid plants out in flower, and if I remember these usually flower during March-April.  I don't know what the correct cattleya name is but I always refer to them as the the purple orchids.

So with the help of my wheelbarrow I loaded the pots in, to wheel to where I muck around with pot plants.  Using the wheelbarrow saves on carrying 2 pots at a time and lots of bending over.
I thought this was an ingenious brain wave I had, especially as some pots are quite heavy.

Out with the watering can and new fertilizer, and after weeding, tidying and re potting some of the pots it was time to fertilize and spray with anti-fungal.

5 pots of purple

Back in the barrow then to rearrange the bush house, after I got rid of some weeds and general tree mess. All the plants are looking a lot healthier and happy now, and since it has now been some weeks since, I have given them another top up of fertilizer.  Some have had a second flowering since then.

FILLING IN TIME

As the autumn days in Brisbane have been rather hot, Barry and I have been heading down to the Gold Coast each week for a swim either at Kurrawa or Burleigh Heads.  Some thing we haven't done for such a long time.  Although the water for me is a little cold at first, I pluck up courage and dive under the first wave, before it rolls me over.  It is very relaxing just bobbing around in the surf and certainly clears the cobwebs of usual day to day happenings.  After about an hour we then go for brunch or lunch depending on the time before heading home.  We have found a little restaurant in the Broadbeach mall that serves a very nice breakfast/brunch for just $10.00, but the Burleigh Heads Lifesaving Club can't be beaten for location offering wonderful views of the beach, water as well as good food and nice cold beer.   

Burleigh Heads - one of our many famous beaches

I was interested in attending yoga, and our local council was offering classes at Berrinbah Wetlands. Not knowing where this was, I did a google search and one picture in particular caught my eye.  It was Bill who runs the Logan U3A camera club, and Bill and Diane who got me into blogging after I attended their classes. Just to make sure I was right, I checked out Adventure before Dementia blog, and there was a post written by Diane in 2009 when Berrinbah Wetlands was new. 

We headed off for a drive to see how far these wetlands were, and to do something a little different.  Everything was very dry and the pond would be nice with a good soaking of rain. I think a better time to visit would be after a good downpour.  

This is were yoga is held

Another excellent facility provided by our local council, but it lacked directions on how far the other tracks were.  It is a wonderful place for walkers, bike riders, and has a nice big picnic and play area.

Solar Power Bird

Pedal Power

 

The little creek

Big bridge structure

Foot Power

 We both decided that it was just a little out of our way for yoga.  On our way home we came across a golf driving range, so why not give it a try.  Barry purchased 2 half buckets of golf balls, which for non golfers was quite a lot.  But it was fun, and something we can take our eldest grandson to during the holidays.  As he has a competitive streak maybe Barry and I need to go back and practice refining our technique

As if- who would want to win this

Not quite the right stanch, but I did hit it 

Definitely need more practice 

A DAY (OR WEEK) IN THE GARDEN

Our old timber fence disintergrated after 30 odd years, and we agreed with our neighbour to replace it with an old fashioned chain wire fence.  Not something that we really wanted and we certainly didn't want a colorbond prison fence as suggested.  Everything looked ok until, they then chopped and pulled out every plant in their yard which had now left our front and side totally exposed and lacking any privacy.  I guess if we had planted trees some years ago we wouldn't be in this situation.  

Barry and I headed off to the nursery for ideas.  It was suggested that since we have very heavy clay soil and for new shrubs to grow quickly, we would need to dig holes twice as big and wide as the plant pot and then introduce new organic soil.  Herein lies the challenge.  Digging a total of 15 holes.  Our first attempt was using a hired jack hammer to dig said holes, but after 2 hours and a little square made, we decided that this wasn't going to be very successful exercise.

One little jackhammer hole

With a little help from our son we managed to dig 9 holes in the garden bed that had softer soil, before returning the jackhammer.  But what will we do with all this left over clay and dirt which we will eventually have.   Problem solved, I rang a local gent with a dingo.  So Kelby came with his little digger, dug our holes or more to the point an enormous trench and he took away the excess dirt.  Dollars well spent.  Hallelujah.

Kelby and his dingo

Been very keen to keep things moving along, I went off to Bunnings and bought 9 Mandevilla plants to start the garden makeover.  As suggested I had already premixed some good organic soil, sand and potting mix together, hoping that his would give the plants a good start.  As it was a hot day I waited until late afternoon before planting my new shrubs. 

9 Mandevillas for 9 holes.

Sunday came so Barry and I went to the Rocklea Markets for the first time ever, and found a few nursery stalls selling very good established shrubs which we were wanting and at very reasonable prices.  So the following weekend we returned and purchased the plants we had chosen, and with the holes dug and 4 trailer loads of new rich organic soil replacing the clay, we now had a new landscaped side garden with our new trees planted.

A small helping hand

Well there was no stopping Barry now, who obviously got bitten by a garden bug.  He decided  to fertilize the front yard and kept telling me that rain was predicted, but of course who trusts the weather bureau.  Yes, we shall have a huge water bill.  Everything is green and the garden is looking refreshed, and, even if I do say so myself the best front yard in the street.  Lets hope our previous lack of green fingers will now work.

A challenge successfully completed before moving onto the next one.

Challenge 2:  Will we pull down and replace the retaining wall in our barbque area or join Zumba Gold for Seniors.